Let’s get you to Vida Vegan Con!

Our event takes place at the Portland Art Museum for the first time this May, and our Getting to Portland page has all the information and tips you need on flying, driving, taking the train, and busing from out-of-town, as well as local transportation and bike rental ideas. If you’re planning on taking the BoltBus from Seattle, Bellingham or Vancouver, B.C., do be on the look-out, as their schedule is posted 4-6 weeks in advance and tickets go quite quickly these days (and it *is* shockingly possibly to snag a $1 ticket, as Jess here, can personally attest). This post will review the nitty-gritty of getting to the Museum & more, so please make sure to read carefully.

Here we go! Just a heads up: Classes take place in both the Admin building and the actual Museum, located next door to each other. There will be signs on how to quickly get to and from.

Immediate Area & Google Map

We’ve been putting together a brand-new Vida Vegan Con II Google Map so you can get a feel for the Portland area. It includes all official and unofficial conference happenings, as well as dining and lodging recommendations, and directions to and from several important locales. We highly suggest that you bookmark it if you’re a smart phone user. If you’d like to see something added, say the word and we’ll do our best to get it in.

For more details, and to peruse the latest exhibits, visit the PAM website.

We’ve put all the official Vida Vegan Con II locations, including:

The Portland Art Museum

Staver Locomotive – the home of the Saturday night Galarama & Silent Auction, sponsored by So Delicious, which is included in conference registration (though tickets are available for family & friends!)

White Owl Social Club (home of our unofficial but official Thursday night Meet & Greet)

Numerous hotels, guesthouses, hostels and other lodging ideas, many of which are offering weekend discounts if you sign up for a room by the end of April

More on Public Transit

All you need to know about using Trimet’s MAX lightrail, bus lines and the Portland Streetcar lines to get to the Portland Art Museum is on our Venue page. For custom Trimet trips from anywhere in the Portland metro area, use the official (and easy!) Trimet Trip Planner.

The Portland Art Museum is centrally located on multiple bus lines, the recently expanded Portland Streetcar system, and a few blocks from the MAX lightrail. The closest lines are technically the streetcar and the #6 and #15 buses, but it’s also a quick walk from any bus (which includes most lines) and the MAX that stops along the downtown bus mall.

Please note, there is no more Fareless Square. Tickets are now required for all buses and trains.Metered street parking: read more below

About Parking

There is much metered street parking in the area (most spaces limited to 2 or 3 hours—and you can’t just keep feeding the meters; you have to move your car to another block or you will get a ticket), and many parking garages.

We’ve also investigated two nearby parking lots, which are across the street from each other from the conference, at SW Park and Main, and one block north. Be sure to investigate your options, as rate can vary.

SW Main & SW 10thSW Main & SW ParkThese two carts are right across the street from each other on SW Main, from the corner of the Portland Art Museum

Stay tuned for a lodging round-up (plus, our favorite Portland vegan musts & local recs) soon – and check out our recommendations and various promotional discounts across town in the meantime. Remember, it’s a holiday weekend, so book those rooms!

5 thoughts on “VVC 2013: Getting to the Portland Art Museum”

Thanks for posting this! It will come in handy. I should mention to others who might be reading this, Portland doesn’t mess around on parking tickets. Paul and I got one last VCC in a rental, while parked near the Homegrown Smoker. Since my city (Memphis) does not enforce parking tickets unless you get 3 in one year, I just assumed I could ignore it. But then I got a $200 bill in the mail from the rental car place a few months later! Oops! They added on all kinds of fees and late charges. Had I just paid it like a responsible tourist, it would have been something like $30. Doh!

Absolutely. And you really, seriously cannot just keep feeding the meter. You MUST move your car to a different block each time, just like the little sign says. That’s how I got a $24 ticket. (But I was a good girl and paid it, not like Outlaw Bianca!)

[…] Car? Don’t bother. It’s a city, which means you will pay too much for parking at your hotel or near the museum. It’s not as bad as some cities, but still. With our public transportation, unless you’re venturing out to the ocean or mountains you just won’t need it. (But if you must, we have some tips on local parking here). […]

I don’t know how many other people this applies to, but if you happen to have a permanent disability, Portland counts itself among the awesome for accessible parking (Seattle is another city with a similar freebie policy), and it’s free to park for an unlimited amount of time in a metered parking spot so long as you properly display your valid disability placard. You can check out the info here: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/60014